12 MA Public Colleges Ranked Among Nation's Best

Massachusetts has long been known as home to some of the best private universities in the country, but a new national ranking shows that the commonwealth also boasts many of the nation's best public institutions. The rankings, published this week by Business First after analyzing data for more than 500 public colleges across the country, listed a dozen state colleges among the top 250.

Here are the colleges and overall rankings for the schools in Massachusetts:

• University of Massachusetts, 40th
• University of Massachusetts-Lowell, 78th
• Massachusetts Maritime Academy, 103rd
• University of Massachusetts-Boston, 123rd
• Westford State University, 185th
• Worcester State University, 187th
• Fitchburg State University, 201st
• Framingham State University, 216th
• Massachusetts College of Art and Design, 218th
• Bridgewater State University, 221st
• University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, 222nd
• Salem State University, 228th

The best public university in America is the University of Michigan, according to the rankings. The university has earned the top spot in four of the last five annual rankings released by Business First. The authors praised Michigan for its selectivity in admissions — just 26.5 percent of applicants are accepted — its high retention and graduation rates and strong surrounding job market.

Here are the 10 best public colleges:

1. University of Michigan
2. University of North Carolina
3. University of Virginia
4. University of California-Berkeley
5. University of California-Los Angeles
6. University of Washington
7. University of Texas
8. College of William and Mary (Virginia)
9. University of Illinois
10. University of Florida

All five of the top ranked colleges are extremely selective, the authors noted. Each has an admission rate below 28 percent and retention rates above 96 percent. Moreover, they all have four-year graduation rates higher than 74 percent.

The top 250 schools are ranked numerically while the lower echelon of schools are listed alphabetically. Every college had to meet certain criteria to be ranked. Among the eligibility requirements: They had to have at least 1,000 enrollees and more than half the degrees they granted in the last academic year had to be a bachelor’s degree or higher. (Military academies were excluded.) The colleges also had to be classified as baccalaureate, master's or research institutions by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Business First then rated qualified universities based on 22 metrics across eight categories: selectivity, advancement, prospects, resources, costs, diversity, community and past. Some of the metrics include admission rate and test scores, retention and graduation rates, and future earnings.

Click here to see the complete methodology.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.